By Amir Zia
Monday, Dec 30, 2013
The New
For Pakistani babies born in 2013 and beyond, the state has only to offer an unwelcoming and brutalised society. Peace, prosperity, and happiness will remain elusive for our children as we have created a society where violence, extremism and lawlessness are rife
Last year, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, carried out a research to measure which country will provide “the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.”
The report, titled ‘The lottery of life’, was carried in The Economist’s annual issue, ‘The World in 2013’, in which out of 80 countries, Pakistan ranked at a dismal 75th position – only ahead of Angola, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Kenya and Nigeria.
The five countries tipped best for a baby born in 2013 were Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The report was published in Urdu by the Jang Group in partnership with The Economist in ‘Kaiysa Hoga 2013?’, an annual publication available in the local market since 2010.
The EIU report included parameters like quality-of-life linked to the results of subjective-life satisfactory surveys – “how happy people say they are – to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries.” The report said that being rich helps more than anything else, but at the same time crime rate, trust in institutions and the health of family life mattered too, along with demography, geography and many social and cultural characteristics.
The EIU forecasts to 2030 are aimed at finding where the luckiest babies would be born in 2013 and at identifying places that remain among the worst.
Pakistan’s was well below neighbouring India which got the 66th position, Sri Lanka at 63rd and Iran at 58th. Comparing ourselves with Europe, North America, Far East and Middle East of course makes no sense, as they remain far ahead of us in each and every number. For Pakistani babies, the future indications are indeed bleak.
In its latest issue, ‘The World in 2014’, the EIU report focused on countries that remain ripe for rebellion and major upheavals. Here again, Pakistan was placed in the category of high risk countries – but luckily not among the “very high risk”. Still, Pakistan’s bracketing among high risk countries is a manifestation of its institutional and political weaknesses. Chances of social unrest and risk of instability makes it a risky place, which appears ripe for rebellion.
The EIU is only one among many international institutions that have come up with worrying indicators for the country. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Unicef, the World Health Organisation and many more have only sad numbers to report and bad tidings to give about Pakistan’s present and the future.
Sixty-eight years after Independence, we have been unable to provide tap water to nearly 50 percent of our urban and 80 percent of the rural population. More than 43 million Pakistanis defecate in the open as access to toilets remains shamefully out of their reach, according to Unicef.
Pakistan is all set to miss its Millennium Development Goal targets on health and education by 2015. The net enrolment rates in education have risen, but still remain the lowest in South Asia. The World Bank says that infant and under-five mortality rates showed a similar story, while the country remains plagued by gender disparities in education, health and all the economic sectors.
Around 44 percent of children below the age of five are stunted because of lack of proper nutrition. And the resource allocation on education as a percentage of GDP places Pakistan among the lowest spenders on education and health in the region. (at around two percent of GDP).
We have been unable to eradicate the polio virus from the country because a small, militant religious section of the population considers polio vaccination to be against the tenants of Islam and a western conspiracy to make our future generations infertile. The result is that Pakistan is among the only three countries if the world where this deadly disease still exists. Our holy warriors attack and kill polio vaccinators and do not allow children to get polio drops in many areas – not just in the terrorist infested tribal areas, but even some parts of Karachi.
The fast eroding writ of the state, growing lawlessness, crime and the twin challenges of religiously motivated extremism and terrorism makes Pakistan among the most dangerous countries of the world.
One can get killed in Pakistan simply for marrying against the wishes of one’s family or following a religious belief seen as heretical by some other sect. Terrorists are free to explode bombs, assassinate and carry out suicide attacks, but the best our rulers can do is to beg for talks with them rather than trying to establish rule of law and the writ of the state.
As if all the corruption and nepotism are not enough to mint money, many of our politicians now patronise organised crime and mafias. Karachi – Pakistan’s main financial and commercial hub – is a living example of how the unholy nexus between crime and politics wrecks the economic potential and prospects of a city that could play a lead role providing new jobs and triggering growth in the country.
Our persistent dilemma is that many of the life and death issues that confront the nation do not appear to be among the top priorities of our successive rulers. They do pay lip service to these causes, but when it comes to matching their words with action, they miserably fail.
The priorities of our ruling political elite appear all skewed. Their narrative is dominated by the false interpretation of national honour, misplaced notions of religion, giving centrality to US drone attacks on terrorists, and many non-issues which won’t be worthy of a footnote in history.
Rather than addressing the causes of conflicts and contradictions within society, they are wrestling with symptoms. As a local saying goes: rather than removing the dead dog they are pulling out buckets of water from the well thinking that it would do the trick and clean up the mess.
Amidst all this, life for a common Pakistani is a living ordeal. A vast number of Pakistanis remain denied of their fundamental rights starting from safety of life and property to those of education, health and employment.
No wonder, for Pakistani babies born in 2013 and beyond, the state has only to offer an unwelcoming and brutalised society. Peace, prosperity, and happiness will remain elusive for our children as we have created a society where violence, extremism and lawlessness are rife.
It is understandable why Pakistan is branded among the high risk countries. It is teetering at the brink of chaos, anarchy and social and political unrest, because of the apathy of the ruling classes, their inability to make intellectually right choices and take tough decisions.
As another year nearly draws to an end, many Pakistanis prepare to brace the New Year without a song in their hearts or a sparkle in their souls. They face an uncertain future and testing times ahead on every front.
Will 2014 prove any better? Will Pakistan be able to rein in terrorists and extremists? Will extortionists, kidnappers, robbers and drug peddlers allow us to breathe easy? Will we be able to beat corruption and nepotism? Will Pakistan start its journey towards creating a more just and humane society that ensures that every child goes to school and does not have to toil in the labour market? Will our rulers be able to provide clean water, better healthcare and sanitation to the masses?
These are only questions. Who has the answers?
The new year again provides an opportunity to make a fresh resolve and set the direction for change – a change for the better – and pull the country out from the list that ranks us as among the worst.
Monday, Dec 30, 2013
The New
For Pakistani babies born in 2013 and beyond, the state has only to offer an unwelcoming and brutalised society. Peace, prosperity, and happiness will remain elusive for our children as we have created a society where violence, extremism and lawlessness are rife
Last year, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a sister company of The Economist, carried out a research to measure which country will provide “the best opportunities for a healthy, safe and prosperous life in the years ahead.”
The report, titled ‘The lottery of life’, was carried in The Economist’s annual issue, ‘The World in 2013’, in which out of 80 countries, Pakistan ranked at a dismal 75th position – only ahead of Angola, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Kenya and Nigeria.
The five countries tipped best for a baby born in 2013 were Switzerland, Australia, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. The report was published in Urdu by the Jang Group in partnership with The Economist in ‘Kaiysa Hoga 2013?’, an annual publication available in the local market since 2010.
The EIU report included parameters like quality-of-life linked to the results of subjective-life satisfactory surveys – “how happy people say they are – to objective determinants of the quality of life across countries.” The report said that being rich helps more than anything else, but at the same time crime rate, trust in institutions and the health of family life mattered too, along with demography, geography and many social and cultural characteristics.
The EIU forecasts to 2030 are aimed at finding where the luckiest babies would be born in 2013 and at identifying places that remain among the worst.
Pakistan’s was well below neighbouring India which got the 66th position, Sri Lanka at 63rd and Iran at 58th. Comparing ourselves with Europe, North America, Far East and Middle East of course makes no sense, as they remain far ahead of us in each and every number. For Pakistani babies, the future indications are indeed bleak.
In its latest issue, ‘The World in 2014’, the EIU report focused on countries that remain ripe for rebellion and major upheavals. Here again, Pakistan was placed in the category of high risk countries – but luckily not among the “very high risk”. Still, Pakistan’s bracketing among high risk countries is a manifestation of its institutional and political weaknesses. Chances of social unrest and risk of instability makes it a risky place, which appears ripe for rebellion.
The EIU is only one among many international institutions that have come up with worrying indicators for the country. The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, Unicef, the World Health Organisation and many more have only sad numbers to report and bad tidings to give about Pakistan’s present and the future.
Sixty-eight years after Independence, we have been unable to provide tap water to nearly 50 percent of our urban and 80 percent of the rural population. More than 43 million Pakistanis defecate in the open as access to toilets remains shamefully out of their reach, according to Unicef.
Pakistan is all set to miss its Millennium Development Goal targets on health and education by 2015. The net enrolment rates in education have risen, but still remain the lowest in South Asia. The World Bank says that infant and under-five mortality rates showed a similar story, while the country remains plagued by gender disparities in education, health and all the economic sectors.
Around 44 percent of children below the age of five are stunted because of lack of proper nutrition. And the resource allocation on education as a percentage of GDP places Pakistan among the lowest spenders on education and health in the region. (at around two percent of GDP).
We have been unable to eradicate the polio virus from the country because a small, militant religious section of the population considers polio vaccination to be against the tenants of Islam and a western conspiracy to make our future generations infertile. The result is that Pakistan is among the only three countries if the world where this deadly disease still exists. Our holy warriors attack and kill polio vaccinators and do not allow children to get polio drops in many areas – not just in the terrorist infested tribal areas, but even some parts of Karachi.
The fast eroding writ of the state, growing lawlessness, crime and the twin challenges of religiously motivated extremism and terrorism makes Pakistan among the most dangerous countries of the world.
One can get killed in Pakistan simply for marrying against the wishes of one’s family or following a religious belief seen as heretical by some other sect. Terrorists are free to explode bombs, assassinate and carry out suicide attacks, but the best our rulers can do is to beg for talks with them rather than trying to establish rule of law and the writ of the state.
As if all the corruption and nepotism are not enough to mint money, many of our politicians now patronise organised crime and mafias. Karachi – Pakistan’s main financial and commercial hub – is a living example of how the unholy nexus between crime and politics wrecks the economic potential and prospects of a city that could play a lead role providing new jobs and triggering growth in the country.
Our persistent dilemma is that many of the life and death issues that confront the nation do not appear to be among the top priorities of our successive rulers. They do pay lip service to these causes, but when it comes to matching their words with action, they miserably fail.
The priorities of our ruling political elite appear all skewed. Their narrative is dominated by the false interpretation of national honour, misplaced notions of religion, giving centrality to US drone attacks on terrorists, and many non-issues which won’t be worthy of a footnote in history.
Rather than addressing the causes of conflicts and contradictions within society, they are wrestling with symptoms. As a local saying goes: rather than removing the dead dog they are pulling out buckets of water from the well thinking that it would do the trick and clean up the mess.
Amidst all this, life for a common Pakistani is a living ordeal. A vast number of Pakistanis remain denied of their fundamental rights starting from safety of life and property to those of education, health and employment.
No wonder, for Pakistani babies born in 2013 and beyond, the state has only to offer an unwelcoming and brutalised society. Peace, prosperity, and happiness will remain elusive for our children as we have created a society where violence, extremism and lawlessness are rife.
It is understandable why Pakistan is branded among the high risk countries. It is teetering at the brink of chaos, anarchy and social and political unrest, because of the apathy of the ruling classes, their inability to make intellectually right choices and take tough decisions.
As another year nearly draws to an end, many Pakistanis prepare to brace the New Year without a song in their hearts or a sparkle in their souls. They face an uncertain future and testing times ahead on every front.
Will 2014 prove any better? Will Pakistan be able to rein in terrorists and extremists? Will extortionists, kidnappers, robbers and drug peddlers allow us to breathe easy? Will we be able to beat corruption and nepotism? Will Pakistan start its journey towards creating a more just and humane society that ensures that every child goes to school and does not have to toil in the labour market? Will our rulers be able to provide clean water, better healthcare and sanitation to the masses?
These are only questions. Who has the answers?
The new year again provides an opportunity to make a fresh resolve and set the direction for change – a change for the better – and pull the country out from the list that ranks us as among the worst.
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